Dialogues of Drama and Destiny: A Comparative Study of Kālidāsa and Shakespeare’s Theatrical Vision

Abstract:

This study provides a comparative analysis of the classical Sanskrit dramatist Kālidāsa and the Elizabethan playwright William Shakespeare, focusing on how they construct drama and destiny within their unique cultural and theatrical traditions. By closely analyzing Kālidāsa’s Abhijñānaśākuntalam and Shakespeare’s late romances—The Tempest, The Winter’s Tale, and Pericles—this paper examines how both playwrights use divine or supernatural intervention, character transformation, and dialogic interaction to explore themes of fate, reconciliation, and moral order. While Kālidāsa highlights cosmic harmony and restoration, Shakespeare explores ambiguity and the complex relationship between fate and human agency. The study emphasizes that destiny is not just a restrictive force but a transformative power shaping emotional journeys and ethical resolutions. It also investigates the importance of humor and the jester as ethical counterweights, the changing role of protagonists—especially female leads like Śakuntalā—and the permeable boundaries between Sanskrit and Elizabethan drama. Drawing on critical scholarship, the paper situates these dramatists within a transnational dialogue, examining cross-cultural influences, adaptations in theatre, cinema, and puppetry, and the lasting significance of wonder, love, and moral reconciliation in global drama. The study contributes to comparative literary studies by showing how these two timeless theatrical visions, separated by centuries and continents, converge in their exploration of destiny’s transformative power.